Potential students planning on attending Motlow College this fall must submit an application for admission or readmission by Friday, August 17; online applications are accepted until midnight. The application for admission must be complete and all requirements met before a student is eligible to enroll in classes. Online applications may be accessed from the “Apply Now” button on the College website. Motlow personnel are also available at all locations to help students with the application process. Students visiting the Moore County campus are encouraged to visit the Student Success Center in the Crouch Center Building. Assistance is also offered...

At Middle Tennessee State University they are gathering recordings and sheet music to create an interactive website on songs about Tennessee. The Tennessean reports that the website “My Homeland: A Research Guide to Songs About Tennessee” will include eight state songs, raps and songbooks dedicated to the state. Why so many? Dale Cockrell, director of the Center for Popular Music at MTSU, says the word Tennessee “has a rhythm and a melody in it.” The website will include recordings and scans of sheet music and album artwork. The information will be organized by the recurring themes they found in...

State troopers will be targeting traffic violators in school zones as classes resume across Tennessee. The speed limit varies but posted in school zones and the fine for speeding in such a zone is up to $500. It also is against the law to pass a school bus when it is stopped and loading or unloading passengers; fines for that are no less than $250 and up to $1,000. In 2011, state troopers issued almost 3,900 citations in school zones, up from 3,200 a year earlier. THP Col. Tracy Trott said motorists who are distracted, impatient or careless can...

Regional gas prices have jumped an average of 10 cents in the past few days. In Coffee County Manchester’s lowest price is $3.32 per gallon, and the highest price is $3.64. In Tullahoma the low is $3.29 per gallon, and the high is $3.40. The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.61, a 12-cent increase from a week ago. Florida’s average of $3.53, $3.48 in Georgia, and Tennessee’s average of $3.39 both increased 11 cents from last...

Estill Springs resident Jay Sisk, 16, died Friday morning in an accident that occurred around 7 a.m. on Highway 41-A in Estill Springs. According to Estill Springs Chief Allen Rhodes, Sisk Pontiac Sunfire was traveling north and crossed into the southbound lane struck a Ford F-150 operated by Matthew West, 25, of Tullahoma. The Sunfire then struck the driver’s door and went under the bed of F-350 operated by Warren Landers, 56, of Shelbyville. The Estill Springs and Decherd Fire Departments then cut Sisk body out of the vehicle. Sisk was pronounced dead at the...

A high school band and choir director in Bedford County is off the job after police said he sent inappropriate text messages to a student. Stephen Givens, the band and choir director of Community High School was arrested Friday morning on charges of solicitation of a minor. Detectives said Givens texted a 16-year-old girl, sent her pictures and asked her to send him pictures. Authorities said the student is in one of Givens’ classes. Givens has been suspended without...

A Franklin County kindergarten teacher has been indicted by a Grand Jury on charges of reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and domestic violence. Officials said that Patricia Rollins a kindergarten teacher at Sewanee elementary in Sewanee was indicted on Friday by the Franklin County Grand Jury. It was not clear what case the indictment came from. Franklin County Director of Schools, Dr. Rebecca Scharber said she had no plans to remove Rollins from the classroom until the case was brought to trial. Several board of education members have expressed their opinion that the teacher should not be allowed in the...

Hot weather from April to June, including a heat wave that sent temperatures soaring above 100 degrees for four straight days, led to a five percent increase in operating revenues for the Tennessee Valley Authority this quarter. But officials at the federal utility said it still wasn’t enough to overcome the loss TVA suffered earlier in the year amid the mildest winter in decades combined with a sluggish economy. TVA reported a $290 million net loss in the first nine months of 2012. Last year the federal utility reported a $35 million loss during that same time period. The...